Adjustable truss pad



March 9, 1937. SHAW 2,073,289

ADJUSTABLE TRUSS PAD.

Fil'ed Jan. 10, 1956 gwucm bom (75H/v (LE/7. SHAW Patented Mar. 9, 1937UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

The invention aims to provide a new and improved truss pad which may beeasily adjusted to obtain the desired pressure at any required pointwithout the necessity of having the pad-carrying strap as tight aroundthe body as now required.

A further object is to provide a novel construction whereby the pad maybe quickly and easily adjusted forwardly or rearwardly with respect tothe belt, according to the requirements.

Another object is to provide novel means for rearwardly pressing arestricted part of the bodyengaging portion of the pad to provide aconvex projection thereon adapted to hold internal parts of the bodyagainst outward movement into a rupture, allowing the rupture to heal.

Yet another object is to provide a construction which may be easily andinexpensively manufactured, may be sold at small cost, may be easilyadjusted by the wearer, and will afford a 00 maximum amount of comfort.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subjectmatter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplishedby reference to the accompanying draw- 5 ing.

Fig. l is a top plan view showing two of the improved pads mounted upona belt, showing different adjustments of said pads.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged central sectional view 30 through one of the padson line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the front plate which is secured to thebelt.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the flanged disk which is adjustablythreaded upon the front plate, and the cup adjustably mounted on saiddisk.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the dome-shaped elastic pad which isconnected with the aforesaid disk and abuts a resilient body held bysaid cup.

. Two of the pads are shown connected with a conventionalleather-covered steel belt B whose ends are connected by a strap S, saidbelt being provided with the usual spaced openings to facilitateattachment of the pads. As both pads are of identical construction, onlyone will be described.

I provide a front plate 8 for attachment to the belt B, said platehaving a threaded edge 9. This plate is attached to the belt by a short50 bolt ill whose nut H is held by ribs I2 on said plate. This plate isheld against rotating about the bolt iii, by suitable lugs 53 which areformed on the front side of said plate and abut the upper and loweredges of the belt B.

55 Behind the front plate 8 is a disk l4 whose front side is providedwith a continuous flange I5 having internal screw threads l6 engagedwith the screw threads 9 of the front plate 8, so that said disk i4 maybe adjusted forwardly or rearwardly by rotating it. The rear side of thedisk 14 is provided with a continuous undercut flange H which engagesand holds a flange I8 on the edge of an elastic dome-like pad l9, thispad being formed from rather soft rubber.

Mounted upon the central portion of the disk l4 and disposed behind thisdisk, is a cup 23 which is of much smaller diameter than said disk. Ayieldable body 21, preferably a small sponge rubber ball, is held in thecup and projects rearwardly therefrom into contact with the centralportion of the dome-like pad l9, said central portion being preferablythinner than the remainder of said pad. Provision is made for forwardlyand rearwardly adjusting the cup 20 as may be desired, and the more thiscup is rearwardly adjusted, the harder it forces against the centralportion of the pad IS, with the result that said central portion may beforced rearwardly to form a small convex projection 22 to press upon theusers flesh directly in line with the rupture so as to effectively holdinternal parts of the body against outward movement into said rupture,allowing the latter to readily heal.

In adjustably mounting the cup 20, I provide screw threaded adjustingmeans so that said cup may be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly, simplyby rotating it. In the present showing, a stud 23 is centrally securedat 24 to the disk I4 and. projects rearwardly from said disk, the cup 20being threaded upon said stud as shown at 25.

By rotating the flanged disk with respect to the front plate 8, saiddisk, the dome-like pad [9, and parts within this pad, may be bodilyadjusted forwardly or rearwardly as required. By disconnecting the padl9 from the disk M, the cup 20 is accessible and. by rotating this cup,it may be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly to suit the exigencies of thecase. The pad l9 may then be readily reconnected with the flange llsimply by snapping its flange l8 into engagement with said flange II.

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageousconstruction has been provided for carrying out the objects of theinvention. While preferred details have been shown, variations may bemade within the scope of the invention as claimed. Moreover, any desiredmaterial or materials suited to the purposes which they must fulfill,may be employed, and the sizes and proportions of parts may be variedwithin a wide range.

I claim:

1. In an adjustable truss pad, a front plate for attachment to a belt, adisk behind said front plate and having a threaded connection therewithto allow forward and rearward adjustment of said disk by rotating thesame, a rearwardly open cup behind said disk and having a threadedconnection therewith to allow forward and rearward adjustment of saidcup by rotating it, said cup being of much smaller diameter than saiddisk, a yieldable body seated in and projecting rearwardly from saidcup, and a dome-like yieldable pad enclosing said yieldable body andcontacting with the rear side thereof, the edge of said dome-like padbeing connected with said disk.

2. In an adjustable truss pad, a disk and means for mounting it on abelt, a rearwardly open substantially hemispherical cup mounted on therear side of said disk, a substantially spherical elastic body seatedremovably in said cup and projecting rearwardly therefrom, and adomelike elastic pad enclosing said elastic body and detachably securedto said disk, said dome-like elastic pad being free of connection withsaid substantially spherical elastic body but disposed in abuttingrelation therewith to hold said body in said cup.

JOHN C. M. SHAW.

